Oil and gas companies BP (NYSE: BP) and ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) announced Monday they will not renew their memberships in the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP).
Formed in 2007, USCAP is a group of businesses and leading environmental organizations that created a blueprint for the comprehensive climate and energy legislation they wanted the US Congress to pass.
Jim Mulva, ConocoPhillips chairman and CEO, said the climate change bill passed by the House last summer "disadvantaged the transportation sector and its consumers, left domestic refineries unfairly penalized versus international competition, and ignored the critical role that natural gas can play in reducing GHG emissions."
The bill reportedly was based in part on USCAP's blueprint.
BP said it still supports the USCAP blueprint. which called for a cap-and-trade market, but it also said current legislation would penalize the petroleum industry.
Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) also withdrew from USCAP.
It's not exactly clear why these companies are pulling out now. If they signed on in the first place simply to improve their green reputations, it would make sense that they would remain members now that climate legislation appears to be dead in the water. But maybe it isn't.
Or maybe the companies did not fully support USCAP's blueprint to begin with, and now that the climate legislation house of cards is beginning to fall, they've decided to yank their card out as well.
Companies remaining in the organization include Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) and Shell Oil (NYSE: RDS-B). Environmental groups include Environmental Defense Fund and Natural Resources Defense Council.
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